4.12.06

PARROTT FAILS TO PASS SELBY DATE

John Parrott was disappointed but not bitterly by his 9-1 defeat to Mark Selby in the first round of the Maplin UK Championship in York today.

He started the press conference by pretending he was only going to give one word answers but this quickly gave way to a realistic assessment of what proved to be the 1991 UK champion's heaviest defeat since he was beaten 18-3 by Steve Davis in the 1989 World Championship final.

“Early on in the match I threw a couple of frames away. It gave Mark a boost and from 4-1 to 9-1 he was exemplary,” said Parrott, who came from 8-5 down to edge Dave Gilbert 9-8 in the final qualifying round last month.

“To be 4-1 down was very harsh but after that I had no complaints. I didn’t get a shot. I’ve been practising hard but you can’t pot any balls if you can’t see any.

“In a way, qualifying was a false dawn. You keep playing because you occasionally get a good result and a decent performance but I’ve come here and it was another level up again."